LANGUAGES

French Curriculum Map

Spanish Curriculum Maps

German Curriculum Maps

The Modern Foreign languages curriculum area offers German and Spanish from Year 7 to Year 13. In Year 7 and Year 8 all of our students study German and the majority of our students also study Spanish. In Year 9 most students will specialise in one language but we also run a ‘bespoke’ language group for students who intend to study both German and Spanish at GCSE level. We strongly encourage all of our students to study a language at least to GCSE level, as we believe that it will open the door to many career opportunities, enable students to communicate with and deepen their understanding of the wider world, and will be useful for future travel. Studying a language also makes our students more competitive with their peers in other schools. We are a very friendly and encouraging team and we are committed to providing our students with the best possible language learning experience.

Department Staff

Mrs M Ward - Senior Leader MFL

Mrs E Starmer - Second in MFL Department

Miss A Pietrus - German Teacher & Mental Health Champion

Mr C Mendoza - Spanish Teacher

Curriculum Intent

At Thurstable School we offer our pupils a broad and ambitious Modern Languages curriculum, which is rich in skills and knowledge. We aim at developing self-efficacy, creativity and curiosity and promote diversity and tolerance of other cultures. The Thurstable School Modern Languages curriculum will enable our students:

Use all four language language skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking) receptively and productively, for communication in the real world, for practical purposes, like foreign travel, world of work and for their immediate needs
to discuss their interests and to express and justify opinions
to develop their confidence and independent learning skills to access new and unfamiliar language by using decoding skills/reference materials(E.g. dictionaries)
to clearly understand the phonics and sound patterns of the foreign language so that unfamiliar texts can be read with confidence
to work towards becoming a spontaneous speaker of the foreign language
to acquire a sound grammar/vocabulary knowledge that will allow them to take their studies further. (A-Level/University)

GCSE & A Level Qualifications

GCSE

AQA Exam Board

Topics Studied over the two year course:

Theme 1 - Identify and Culture: Me, my family and friends, technology in everyday life, free-time activities, customs and festivals

Theme 2 - Local, national, international and global areas of interest: Home, town, neighbourhood and region, social issues, global issues, travel and tourism

Theme 3 - Current and future study and employment: My studies, life at school/college, current and future employment, education post-16, jobs career choices and ambitions.

Exam Papers

Paper 1: Listening (25% of the overall GCSE grade)

Paper 2: Speaking (25% of the overall GCSE grade)

Paper 3 Reading (25% of the overall GCSE grade)

Paper 4: Writing (25% of the overall GCSE grade)

A-level

AQA Exam Board

Topics studied over the two year course:

Theme 1 - Aspects of German-speaking society: Changing family structures, the digital world, youth culture

Theme 2 - Artistic culture in the GErman-speaking world: Festivals and traditions, art and architecture, the cultural life of Berlin

Theme 3 - Multiculturalism in German-speaking society: Immigration, integration, racism

Theme 4 - Aspects of political life in the German-speaking world: Germany and the European Unity, politics and youth, the reunification and its consequences

Film studied: Good Bye, Lenin!

Book studied: Zonenkinder by Jana Hensel

Exam Papers

Paper 1: Listening, reading and writing (50% of the overall A-level grade)

Paper 2: Writing (20% of the overall A-level grade)

Paper 3: Speaking (30% of the overall A-level grade)

Facilities

Languages rooms C2-C6, All rooms equipped with a projector/tv and visualisers.

Trips

- Every year we run a four day Yr 8 trip to Trier in Germany .

- We usually run a day trip for Y7.

- We are currently looking at running a Christmas Market trip for our Y10 students.